Feynman22

The new updates to the app - Stack putting coming out of Beta - are superb. The putting really is great. You can now compare your SG to different handicaps instead of a Tour player as before. Gives you a confidence boost when you adjust it down from Tour level that is tough going otherwise. Great training tool overall. I read Sasho and co were researching other parts of the game as well (such as wedge play) - would be great to have something similar for the rest of the game too.

I've had some swing issues recently with path going out to in through the ball. This has come from me pulling down on the club from the top I think when trying to max out numbers speed training and I've been struggling to shake it. I work on it when at the range, by the middle of the session the swing feels good. Start out on course swinging nicely, hitting some bombs here and there, then around 6 holes in the out to in path creeps back in and it's a disaster with driver. Pretty frustrating. I do think it's important as you do the speed training you are still seeing your coach regularly to keep everything in line. I'm just doing technique work and gym work until the end of the playing season to maintain or push speeds that way. I think my ceiling has actually increased due to strength continuing to trend upwards in the gym which is cool to see.

Haven't done much stack training in a while now. Been fighting a swing issue where I have a tendency to get the hands slightly outside coming down and I felt trying to swing flat out was ingraining that further so decided to pause the training. Saying that, I was at the range earlier this week, hitting driver, and thought I would crank it up for a few. Got to mid 170's ball speed before topping out, which is roughly 20 mph more than where I started from in winter last year. There's a few more in there, but just planning to tick over until the offseason when I'll give it another push and hopefully break through the 180 mark. Still love it though! Best thing you can do for your game is pack on some speed.

Finally got round to properly testing out the Stack putting. So far I like it - gives some structure to the practice. Planning to do this a couple of times per week and see what, if any, benefit comes of it. Been struggling with speed recently so was pretty happy with this.

Absolutely agree . I think I'll have to go X in the driver eventually. Will need to give the Ventus options a proper test when I do.

Has anyone had to tweak equipment because of their speed gains? I moved to a Titleist TSR from Ping as I started working on speed, but Im still rocking a stiff Hzrdus shaft which I like, but swinging in the 113-115 range on course. Think it might be time to try a few X stiff options to see if better for spin, dispersion etc. Have found the S+ or X stiff in iron shafts in recent testing has felt good. About to put some KBS $ tapers into an old set of Legacy Blacks (the Stenson irons)

Amazing - different game that is.

Played in a member guest event at the weekend there. Still slowly chipping away at the rust in the game (haven't been playing much yet). Had a couple of standout moments though... Downwind & firm fairways, but a couple of drives I hit went 355 and 360 yards . Was pin high on a 362 par 4 and then had a flick with lob wedge to the other. Pretty decent downwind but was 30 yards by playing partners and won the long drive prize - cheers Sasho! For context, prior to swing, gym and stacking I was sitting around 100mph. I'm still fighting the swing and have been slacking with the gym and stack, so I'm hopeful there's more in the tank.

My hands have been sore on occasion, especially with those heavier weights. Know exactly what you mean. Is this a recent development with the strike falling away? Were you hitting it well through the winter?

I think it's a slight misunderstanding of speed training at this point if you've seen no or limited progress in a year. I would recommend seeking out podcasts with Sasho (he's been on chasing scratch, Hack it out, Fit4 Golf and loads more) and also check out the Vimeo videos you find on the Stack website. Also I'd seriously consider some coaching with coaches who understand or specialise in distance - for example a few good options on Skillest would be Scott Borrowman, Steve Furlonger, Jonathon Staton. Without proper coaching even elite ams or pros are often guessing. Couple of things I'd highlight: The stack is essentially gamified exercise. The overload training is making you stronger. If you are fitter/stronger, you can then apply more force through the club at the same level of effort. So your on course swing would feel the same effort (say it's 90%) but you'll be swinging faster. Increasing strength in squat, deadlift, bench, row and throwing medicine balls will make a hell of a difference on top of this. The overspeed work is essentially removing the brakes and teaching your body to go faster than normal. With that in mind, you have to Max out your swings during training to force your body to adapt and get the benefit, but you wouldn't be swinging like this on course. If the max number goes up 5mph, it's going to bring your bottom speed & cruising on course speed up with it. The people who see most benefit combine swing work, with gym work, with the stack. There are specific things in the swing that can contribute to distance - for example higher hands/longer hand path, pushing hard off the ground with the lead foot through the ball. If you are swinging hip to hip say or shoulder height to shoulder then there's going to be a limitation there as you have less time to apply force through the club. You only need around 4mph CHS increase to gain around 10 yards off the tee. This averages out to being a stroke better off per round. This is easily doable with some general fitness, intent and a few key thoughts in the swing. ------ For context my Speed training journey looks like this so far: November last year - Picked up the clubs after not playing much in probably 2 years. Swing speed sitting around 100mph mark. Fastest I ever was before was around 105-107 at most. Took some lessons and got back in the gym (was a bit out of shape). Technique and some limited gym work got me to touching 113 maxing out, but it was fleeting and not guaranteed each session at the range. Had to work really hard for it and my on course speed more like 106-108. I picked up the Stack in January I think and added it into the training when I could fit it in. Stack speed maxed out at 108 at the end of foundations (118 eSpeed). I'm now in Phase 3 of FSS program and eSpeed is at 122. My playing speed is around the 115 mark - which is beyond anything I dreamed of when starting out and there's plenty more to gains to be had. So I don't think I could agree that it doesn't work. Apologies - massive TLDR post.

With your strike problems, do you see any pattern? For example, do you catch it low on the face (thin with irons) or out the toe as a general rule? If that was the case it could be you are setting up too far from the ball, or ball position could have crept too far forward etc. I recently had to adjust myself as I was losing a tonne of distance to strike. If you don't know the pattern, definitely get some foot spray and spray the club face to gather some data. Then it could be a really simple adjustment

It's really key you swing absolutely flat out to get the most benefit. Sasho says not doing this is one of the biggest reasons people don't make progress or stall. I actually struggle to go full out Max swings - as you should be at risk of and sometimes actually lose your balance if pushing hard enough. I rarely manage this but a combination of swing stuff, gym work and Stack sessions is still showing steady progress for now, so I'll pay more attention to it once it stalls.

The eSpeed number is definitely an all out max air swing with driver for me. I just about get close to it doing that. Hitting a ball I'm maxing out around 3-5mph lower with my on course gamer swing being another 3mph or so below this again. I've heard Sasho talk about being able to reduce that gap, but haven't done any work on it specifically yet. I purposefully ignore the Distance potential number though as I think it's not really relevant, especially where I play. Hugely dependent on strike etc as well. It's more a case of just seeing the other metrics continue to go up is where I'm interested.

Enjoy that one as well. Another one I've been enjoying recently is the Hack it Out podcast with Mark Crossfield. They just started a series on gaining distance incidentally.

Latest update from me... FSS is the first program after the initial Foundations stage and been enjoying it so far. I've picked up 2 or 3 mph in FSS to this point. Still in phase 2, so I'm keen to see how it ramps up into phase 3 and 4 - hoping for more gains then. I took the PRGR out on the course on a couple of tee shots at the weekend and sitting comfortably around 115 without going after it too hard. More than happy with that as I firmly fell into the 100-106 range before. Worth noting a disclaimer: on top of the stack I've been doing some swing work as well as general strength and mobility stuff. The Stack is a massive part (one of the best golf purchases ever made) but can't say it's all down to it.